Crocus Poll - Your top 5

[mark smyth]

Continuing on from the galanthus forum ..

What would be in your top 5 Crocus?

[Maggi Young]

The results from the Maggi Jury... in no particular order......
Crocus gargaricus
Crocus mathewi ( the form with a big dark blackcurrant splash in the throat)
Crocus corsicus
Crocus sieberi atticus
Crocus boryi .... maybe banaticus...... ask me tomorrow, I'll give you five more and keep going till I'm a really old lady!

[Thomas Huber]

Mark, what are your Top 5

Hard to choose from such a wide range of flowers, but mine are:

sieberi „Hubert Edelsten“ – due to its extravagant markings, different from all the other Crocus

versicolor – due to its extreme variable flowers from white to dark blue with or without stripes and its strong appearance

medius – the true wild form due to the contrast between the long, red, multi-branched style and the dark violet of the flower

laevigatus – bringing colour in a time of the year, when only a few other plants are in flower

tournefortii – looking so flimsy and fragile with its long, long style

and of course
mathewii – with its dark blue throat and red style in the bright white flowers

[tonyg]

Now then Thomas - that is SIX ... you're not playing properly

..... but then nor am I

I like all of them and the ones I like best are the ones looking good today .... sadly no flowers looking good today

[Brian Ellis]

I'm hopeless as every time I see one I want it

[art600]

Mine are

Crocus mathewii - a beautiful Crocus and a tribute to someone who has made Crocus accessible
Crocus sieberi sieberi - so much better than sieberi tricolor and truly beautiful
Crocus banaticus - different and spectacular
Crocus laevigatus - so many variants and extending to flowering season over months
Crocus michelsonii - can be stunning

However, I wish you had asked for Top 10, then I could include

Crocus niveus
Crocus boryi
Crocus biflorus ssp. melantherus
Crocus baytoperiorum
Crocus hyemalis

[Gerry Webster]

Chosen because they are attractive, easy, widely available & relatively cheap:
pulchellus
cartwrightianus
niveus (white)
tournefortii
flavus or sieberi 'Bowles White'

[David Nicholson]

mine on the same basis as Gerry but restricted to Autumn flowering species.

goulimiy
boryi
kotschyanus
medius
speciosus 'Oxonion'

[Maggi Young]

I see your game, David... you're going to have another go with spring flowering types! Cheat!

[Lesley Cox]

Mine are all easy but SO generous that I can't go past them.

CC minimus,
sieberi sublimis f. tricolor,
biflorus alexandri (the form I had as b. pulchricolor, that isn't),
nudiflorus
chrysanthus `Zwanenburg.'

The next 5 would be....... ad infinitum.

[David Nicholson]

I see your game, David... you're going to have another go with spring flowering types! Cheat!

 

[Boyed]

As my taste goes to very showy, large-sized and beautiful-shaped and to the ones, which make a good display from a distance. My choice is

1. crocus vernus Dutch hybrids,
2. crocus pulchellus 'Zephyr' (for being very beautiful, showy, easy-growing and floriferous!!!) and other nice speciosus x pulchellus hybrids
3. crocus speciosus and its cultivars
4. crocus niveus - most showy ones
5. crocus goulimyi, especially 'Many White'

[Otto Fauser]

such agony to be restricted to just 5,
 so here are the 4 easy ones,
 banaticus
 vallicola
  sieberi ssp. sieberi
 minimus ,the Col de Bavella form , col. by Alan Edwards,
 and the gorgeous mathewii, seems to be everyones favourite ,
 but not the easiest in my garde
      Otto

[Janis Ruksans]

Mark, It is impossible. Too many crocuses exist, but to keep in, I divided my top-5 in three groups -
autumn
spring species
spring cultivars
So will start with top-5 autumn
Crocus scharojanii flavus - one of earliest, only scharojanii typica is earlier
Crocus autranii - possibly more as rarity
Crocus banaticus SNOWDRIFT - not easy to select between this and FIRST SNOW (much earlier, but smaller) and typical blue.
Crocus wattiorum - nerimaniae possibly better, but I haven't so good picture.
Crocus mathewii - especially the selection in front - with rounded petals, large throat and deep purple fl. tube
Janis

[Luc Gilgemyn]

I agree with everyone else : this is one hell of a difficult task.
Let me also have a try anyway :

Crocus heufelianus "Carpathan Wonder"
Crocus biflorus nubigena
Crocus sieberi sieberi
Crocus biflorus melantherus
Crocus sieberi 'Hubert Edelsten'


And my God.... there's so many others !!!